Corrales (New Mexico) Community Library

This library was an unexpected and very welcome surprise.

My wife Kathy and I were visiting her father and stepmom (pictured above) in Rio Rancho, NM, last week, and the plan on Tuesday (01/21/20) was to visit a nearby branch library in Rio Rancho. But first we needed to go to Blake’s Lotaburger for lunch. Blake’s has been a favorite of mine ever since I lived in Los Alamos, NM, from 1976 until 1988, and every time I return to NM I try get to a Blake’s for one of their scrumptious green chile cheeseburgers. As in previous visits we went to the Blake’s Lotaburger location in the Old Town area of Albuquerque (see blog post from Dec., 2018). And my green chile cheeseburger was outstanding… as usual. 

On the way back to Rio Rancho, we drove through Corrales, a small village of about 8,600 people north of Albuquerque along the Rio Grande River. Despite being surrounded by the rapidly expanding cities of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, Corrales maintains its rural character. It has an extensive system of irrigation ditches for small agricultural fields, and much of the village is heavily wooded with large stands of cottonwood and other native trees. The Rio Grande Bosque along the eastern edge of the village provides refuge for all kinds of native plants and animals. So we took a number of side trips on gravel roads along the way to see some of the cranes that winter over along the Rio Grande.

As we were winding through the village, my father-in-law asked if I’d like to stop and see the Corrales Community Library, and I’m glad he did. On W. La Entrada just off Corrales Road, the library is in a typical, rather unassuming New Mexico adobe building. But immediately upon entering I knew I was in a really special place. From the skylights and fish pond with plantings in the entry lobby, to the thick adobe walls and the hand-cut vigas and rough latillas of the ceiling, this library was truly enchanting.

The ceramic light fixtures (shown above) that can be found throughout  the older parts of the library are all from a local potter. The library describes itself as “the library that the people built.” Local volunteers made and laid the adobes, cut the vigas, and provided almost all the labor to build the original part of the library in 1979. Since then there have been five additions:  the Reference Room (1983), a new Children’s Room (1993), the office space and expanded portal (2001), a Teen Room (2006), and a Quiet Reading Room (2014). The small room just past the library circulation desk in the entry lobby shows some of the southwestern character of this library that really charmed me. I really loved the chairs and the kiva-style fireplace as well as all the artwork and the woven rug on the wall.

I took so many photos that I think I’ll let them do most of the “talking” to impart some impression of this beautiful library. To the right of the circulation desk, the doorway to the fiction section begins a loop around the library through many different rooms. All along the way there are many paintings, stained glass windows (between rooms as well as to the outside), and photos of Corrales folks who helped to build the library.

Here are several closeups of some of the artwork on display in the library. You might spot a some of them in the wider shots of the various rooms.

From the fiction section, a doorway beckons on to the Reference Room. The shelves seen through the doorway contain books in Spanish. And the doorway under the flower painting leads on to the Children’s Room.

A quick look in a small study room reveals yet more artwork on the walls.

The large L-shaped Children’s Room is bright and open with a colorful carpet and lots of floor cushions marking out a storytelling area.

The the other part of the room includes several computers, some more comfortable chairs, and shelves of resources for parents.

A large Teen Room extends beyond the Children’s Room.

The newest part of the library is the Quiet Reading Room, which contains both study tables as well as a comfortable seating area with shelves for periodicals.

Returning to the older part of the building, the loop brought me back to the entrance lobby.

On one side of the lobby are shelves for new books and on the other shelves for books for sale to support the library.

After a quick peak inside the computer room, it was time to move on to the Rio Rancho Library after this all-too-brief visit in Corrales.

I’d have loved to spend more time browsing the book shelves and then to sit in this library and read for several hours, but it was time to move on to visit the Rio Rancho Library. The outside of this library didn’t prepare me for how enchanting it would be inside, although the sign at the road might have given me a hint. New Mexico offers many such hidden wonders.

Not too far from the library we came to my in-laws’ favorite cottonwood tree. New Mexico is rightly called the Land of Enchantment.